Social StudentWelcome to our Student City Travel Guide for Amsterdam! This series of article pulls together information from many different sources to help you decide on what YOU want to do in each city you visit.
First of all, Amsterdam!
Getting there:
Plane – Arriving at Schiphol International Airport there are direct trains to Amsterdam Centraal every 10 minutes from Platforms 1 and 2. A single ticket costs € 3.60 from a ticket machine and € 4.10 if bought from the ticket office. Make sure you do purchase one though, as a € 35 fine will be issued to anyone found without a valid ticket.
Train – Centraal Station which is in the Centre (Obviously) of the city.
Megabus – Zeeburg Park&Ride (P&R) coach park at Zuiderzeeweg (4km East of Centraal Station). Catch the tram towards the city. Takes 10 / 15 minutes.
Hostel:
Inner Amsterdam (€19 to €25 a night) – Great Location and a cheap price for the area. 15 walk into the centre.
“Great location next to the Van Goghmuseum and Rijksmuseum. A short walk from the Leidse Plein (THE place to go out). A nice and friendly hostel in a typical Amsterdam-building. Bed linen and towels, no curfew, no lock-out. All rooms are non-smoking and drugs are not allowed. In the morning there is breakfast available and of course most important of all: we are one of the cheapest in Amsterdam!”
Flying Pig Uptown Hostel (€25+ a night) – Party Hostel and great to meet fellow travellers.
“Flying Pig Uptown is located near Leidseplein, the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, and is also next to the large Vondelpark, a popular relaxation spot. We like that this hostel has a bar and smoking area downstairs and is ‘very close to bars and the tram stop’, according to our guests. Several visitors have also told us they appreciate the homey atmosphere, which feels ‘more like hanging out in a friend’s house than a hostel’.”
To Do:
1) Dam Square: Centre of the city. A war memorial that serves as a meeting place for tourists – TripAdvisor Link
“All roads lead to Dam Square, the real heart of Amsterdam, where The Royal Palace, the Nieuwe Kerk and the War Memorial overlook this vast and bustling open space.”
Amsterdam’s most famous park was designed and built in 1850 and today is a popular place for tourists and residents who can enjoy a variety of outdoor activities such as biking, hiking, jogging and picnicking.
A Museum with a Story. Visit the hiding place where Anne Frank wrote her diary during the Second World War. For more than two years, Anne Frank lived secretively with the other people in hiding in the back part of her father’s office building at # 263 Prinsengracht.
This charming neighborhood is Amsterdam’s Greenwich Village, with its narrow alleys, leafy canals lined with 17th-century houses, quirky specialty shops, cafes and designer boutiques.
This is one of the MUST SEE attraction of Amsterdam. The Heineken Experience is of course all about Heineken, from the history of the Heineken family, to the full process of beer making and of course trying out some samples!! It takes about one and a half hours to get around the whole Experience and includes lots of interactive activites including being brewed like a beer. With the ticket two drinks are included, plus an extra Heineken at an out tasting bar!
The only Museum of it’d kind in the world, “Electric Ladyland – the First Museum of Fluorescent Art” houses a large room-sized Fluorescent Environment that the visitor enters, becomes a part of the piece of Art, and then experiences “Participatory Art.”
7) CoffeeShops: If this is what you are in Amsterfdam for, you can download a map from here.
8) Sandemans Amsterdam Free Tour: The best free tour of Amsterdam, don’t book on the website just turn up to the meeting point and pay what you feel the tour is worth. Guides are knowledgeable and friendly so don’t be afraid to ask questions!